Northside Church - Sydney
Overflow – What Goes In Must Come Out Week 3: It's System
I remember my little bro when you woke up in a cold sweat, the poor little guy. He was having a nightmare and we were back in those days when you'd share a room with your sibling as you had two I did and he woke up as poor, curly, sweaty little head. He was absolutely petrified, he'd been having a nightmare and when I asked him what was going on, he said it's the number one, it's the number one and I thought he'd gone a bit crazy, I thought he was sleep talking and number four, number four is just as bad, number four is just as bad and he was just going nuts and he eventually calmed down and basically his nightmare was this, that the numbers one and four were chasing him around trying to eat him as they do. I also heard that the plus sign was also being a bit mischievous as well but not as bad as one and four and he was absolutely terrified of him there and these numbers just kept chasing him in his head. Now you think that's a pretty crazy dream to have but there was very good reason because about three weeks prior my parents had signed him up to a funny thing called Kumon which I can already hear the groans of the people that have been through the same sort of therapy my brother later had to have but Kumon was this mathematics coaching course, it was this system whereby you went through all sorts of different exercises basically my brother was hopeless at maths and so he'd gone to Kumon and it had it so drilled into him that basically numbers one and four started chasing him around in his dreams. Now the principle here is welcome to the principle of overflow, what goes in must eventually come out and we see it all through our life whether it's math coaching or other sorts of coaching as we'll see tonight that what you put in eventually shaped who you become and so my question as we finish off this series tonight is do you have a system in place, a Kumon system would you will for the spiritual life for the godly life? Is there a system that you submit yourself to that is actively shaping who you're becoming and that's why we've been processing in this whole series has been that really it started with a vision of what is possible in the life of God that you could be a tree, some one you know where you could be grounded you could be steady you could be stable you could bear your own fruit in induced season that was our hope and our prayer for this year that it would be the best year yet for us but in saying that it would be a year in which we don't shy away from the tough things of life but we stand firm through the tough things of life and with that had to come the intention to want to be like a tree you've got a want to want to be a tree in that sense and so we talk last week about the way in which basically the way that God shapes us is to become the sort of people who naturally want to do what he wants for us but there's a choice and that's what we're going to get to tonight that there's a final piece to the puzzle that this whole system won't work if we don't work this through let's have a read from from Psalm 65 verses 11 to 13 and then I'm going to flick forward to John's gospel in chapter 8. Psalm 65 verses 11 to 13 you crown the gear with your bounty and your carts overflow with abundance the grasslands of the desert overflow the hills are clothed with gladness the meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain they shaft for joy and they sing then in John chapter 8 verses 31 basically if you hold this is the words of Jesus if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free I'm not sure if you're aware February is the new January apparently according to the daily telegraph I was reading this with it's been a year of getting resolutions together it became even more apparent as my esteemed colleague and co-worker Michael Thomas and I were comparing our Christmas muffin tops if you don't know what they are there and it's the fruit of the Christmas season just expressed at the waistline and we were doing that and our argument was well look you know it's been a big month in January it starts now okay we're really starting now aren't we yeah which is really good because the telegraph reports that retail giant Woolworths reports a 40 percent increase in sales of diet and sports food drinks and supplements in February compared to its monthly average putting it more than 30 percent ahead of January in that sense February is the new January for people delaying the start of their new year's resolutions step into life has nearly 50% more people signing up for its outdoor exercise programs in February than in January make it the biggest month of the year spokes woman Linda Schleckner said now why is why is this the case well telegraph goes on to say that human nature tends to be that people think because I'm not starting until February I can have my holidays and be a little bit naughty all right and that's how we that's how we all think what causes muffin tops you see January's January's are full of good intentions oh I look I'm gonna get started I'm gonna I'm really gonna get started but I'm starting in February and so that's why this article was saying it's not normally until the new year's resolution diets actually begin after Australia day so I thought perfect opportunity for us on this Australia day weekend it begins now right Mikey now that's cool you see January's full of intentions we talked about intentions last week and here's the thing with intentions on it look unless there's someone or something to crowd in and cut across those intentions then that's all I'll ever remain the benchmark always pushes on to another month and another month who's to say next year the new March will be the new February and we'll just push on and on and on see here's the thing you need a system of obedience now let me let me front-load the application for you guys tonight when it when it comes to your spiritual growth to grow more and more like Jesus I don't know is is is January becoming the new February I mean is has 2013 become the new 2012 I mean have there been a whole host of things that you knew to be right and to be good and to be prepared for you that you put off because you never submitted to a system of obedience which brought that deadline and that system into your foreground now if that's the case if you put it off maybe I've got a reason well let's try this on look here's the thing why these two passages up together they seem quite different don't they Psalm 65 it's talking about all the wonderful abundance of God your cards overflow with abundance it was the very verse from which I got the concept of this entire series King David they believed to be the writer of that Psalm is talking about a period in which Israel had received extreme abundance with God in a time of drought in which harvest shouldn't have happened but they did and they say you're incredible God the way that you provide it and you see from an Old Testament perspective all the good things and all the great things all the abundant things in life are often linked to the obedience of the nation there's always a clear linkage between obedience and the blessing of God in the Old Testament and so in that sense we can see that that God's blessings often overflow from obedience but we can we can go down the wrong track pretty quickly you see this second passage though when we see the words of Jesus Christ radically changes the nature of how we relate to the law of God and the obedience of God in that sense you see Jesus Christ here is the one that says if you are my disciples you will obey my teaching now disciples means a student it's really good for our youth here because they think we're disciples but you know disciples in our sense you know we think student here let's be a real guy student here is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. after you've gone via you know various cafes on the way to Macquarie University you know students here meaning school books from 9 till 3 because you have to be there student in the biblical language meant all of your life came under the guidance and the instruction of the teacher now here's why it's so important tonight the view the passage for the lens of Jesus here's the thing until you see that obedience the one that Jesus demands is a matter of personally dealing with him like a teacher then you're not going to understand the nature of Christian obedience look let me explain look here's here's a book here here's a book in fact this is a book with all the laws of God in it this is a book with the Psalms in it this is a book with all the different laws we've been talking about for the past three weeks in it and but i picked the book up and if i put it back down it it doesn't call me back to it it doesn't ask me to do anything it doesn't doesn't place any demands on me in that sense a book's a book and so i i pick it up whenever i want but here's the amazing thing when we now look we've been looking at the laws of God from the Psalms now we look at the laws of God through the lens of Jesus Christ here's the thing he's a person and how do you relate to a person a person is a higher order of being than a book right now a person has the ability to get in your face and tell tell you to do certain things and and to make sure that you pick up your clothes and and do all sorts of stuff it's why we have the wonderful institution of marriage in that sense and because we we see you know in relationship that you need to surrender your will what you want to do to the needs and the desires and the wishes of that person in order for there to be right relationship so here's a question how do we relate to God then how do we relate to these laws of God when we see that in Jesus God is a person well that's what's happening here that's a difference between the Psalms and Jesus if God was just a set of rules you could hear him tonight you could walk away from him and you pick him up wherever you whenever you want him and they're a nice cool little kitschy phrase on the back of your bathroom door or on your iPhone or your screens over but when these laws become enacted in a real person someone who calls you to something you know what Jesus is doing he's cutting across your will he's saying if you are my disciples you really obey my teaching that's what obedience is to allow someone or something to cut across your will and you're going oh come on that sounds oppressive and that sounds that that sounds stifling why would we do that well we let people do that all the time we call them coaches we call them personal trainers right we get we have that all the time and when God calls for absolute obedience you know we get scared we get you know we get scared about that you know we think here's what we think what if he asks me to do something that I don't want to do of course he's going to ask you to do something that you don't want to do of course he's going to do that that's what coaches are there for right look it's it's tennis it's tennis season isn't it and I thought I'd use a tennis analogy just for the other half of the church that's not here tonight when they listen to it on the no comment no judgment there it's great great to see you guys here but let's let's let's maintain the tennis theme seeing as the final is just about to start but imagine you know our favorite tennis player at the moment Bernard Tommack you know he's the real superstar he's the next rod labor apparently the next Roger Federer imagine imagine Bernie goes up to to Federer's coach and he and he says you know what I want I want you to be my coach I want to come under your system of obedience I want to be the best player in the world you coached Rodge to that level I want to be the same and the coach says fine well sign up to my system then you know I put but Bernie says not yeah okay coach I like that but can you please not ask me to do anything that I don't want to do I mean I want to keep my milkshakes and I want to sleep in and I want to keep driving really really fast but please please coach don't ask me to do anything that that I don't I don't want to do do you think you think you think he's gonna agree to that course not he's gonna go of course not I'm gonna train you into the ground I'm gonna make you run up and down that baseline I'm gonna make you hit shots I'm gonna I'm gonna absolutely pulverize you when you want to quit and and and I'm gonna push you to places that you wished you weren't going but here's the thing I'm a coach and if you give yourself to me I will make you into the best tennis player in the world Guys you must submit to Jesus in his system because he's the ultimate coach Federer's coach just deals with tennis but who who deals with who's who's a coach for the soul who's the who's who's your coach that can take every aspect of your life from your thoughts and your feelings and your emotions and the pains and the ailments and and and bring all that into something that is wonderful and beautiful you see whenever Jesus calls you into obedience guys you've got to understand that when we come up against these things that we don't want to do it's not because he's trying to kill our joy it's because he promises us that if you're willing to come under his teaching he's going to call you into an adventure and he's going to call you into a joy and he's going to call you into a level of personal fulfillment that you would never have experienced if you hadn't have come under his coaching strategies look here's the thing whether it's a diet whether it's tennis whether it's medicine whether it's matter math mathics whether it's butterfly collection for all that matter you know no one has ever achieved greatness in their field without submitting to some regime of discipline and obedience you guys know this some you know what in your careers and here's the thing do you expect the Christian life to be any different you see a coach a personalized system of obedience that you submit to is there in order to bring out your best now here's attention Jesus is our great coach and some of you tonight might be thinking I want that I want that coach he's better than fair as I want that sort of coach but here's the thing a system over obedience counteracts the problems of intentions we talked about intentions last week and and one of the big problems of intentions here's the first one straight off the top my head is is the systemic pressure of the world around you you know my dad always used to say to me son if you want to soar like an eagle then don't fly with the geese now when you four to five years of age that's a little bit mysterious but I eventually got it and funnily enough that parallels to how you can often read the bible when you're spiritually immature you can read stuff for Jesus and it makes no sense at all but trust me if you if you stay with it it it will it'll make sense to you in the long run but look here's what dad was saying to me he's saying you often become who you hang around why do you think we talk about community so strongly in this place why do we have retreats for because you become like who you hang around in that sense look let's be let's get statistical what we're going to spend an hour in church tonight how how many hours are you going to spend at work this week 30 40 60 for most people that live on the low and all sure one in one in one in 60 and and to and to think that just by turning up to church we are sort of got a mysteriously change what about how many hours you're going to spend it uni or at school you know you spend 40 hours at school look here's here's the thing that our formation who we've become is dictated more by our surroundings than you actually realized tonight who you hang around with is who you become okay how else to put it you won't change personally into the lightness of Jesus Christ any more than a corolla will change into a Porsche just by sitting in a garage you won't become any more like Jesus than a corolla would do by simply sitting in the garage in that sense and so what it means for us guys is that that we actually have to take intentional steps to be more like him now how how could we do that as Dallas Willard says it's by exercising your first freedom you know your first freedom is where you allow your thoughts to dwell the first freedom that God gives you in that sense the first freedom is is is when someone talks you down when someone disses you right that's for anyone under the age of 20 you hit a night if someone disses you if someone bags you are are you going to look at yourself in the mirror are you going to look to the Word of God are you going to look in the mirror you're going to dwell upon the great statements of identity that he places upon us in this wonderful book if your circumstances are just about beyond bearing are you constantly focused on the pain and the suffering that sits around you rather than the just the small tiny pieces of blessing that God is exhibiting in your life the first freedom you have is where you allow your thoughts to dwell and so in that sense you may come against the pressures of the world around you but you always have the freedom wherever you sit to dwell on things of God the wonderful vision of God okay how else do I put it look the thoughts are just the first step but i don't know if you've ever had this experience particularly for you Jim junkies but i used to be a fitness first member that's why February starts now right my yeah yeah i used to be i used to go to the gym all the time and and i don't know if you if you're a Jim junkie you've experienced this but one of the funniest things i always used to love was to see the sort of people that would come into fitness first and they got their water bottle got the Gatorade in the water bottle they got their you know brand new Nike's on and got their tights all the way up there and this is just a few of the guys and and they got towel around their neck and and and you'd watch these certain people they'd sit on the end of the bench and there'd be a big machine with with all these heavy weights and they'd select the heaviest weight and then they'd turn to their friend and they'd start talking for about half an hour i haven't even broken into a sweat and they then they'd move to another machine so you could sort of have the illusion that whoa i'm really working out here man and they go and take it to the heaviest weight put their sit at the end of the bench and start talking to it not friend again you see it was now needless to say they weren't the largest people in the gym because here's the thing unless you make the choice to engage there's no change unless you make the choice to engage there's no change look and here's the thing sometimes and this is what i love about our generation we're we're enthusiastic we want to change the world we want the justice of god to pour down on this city like nothing else we want want our church life to go crazy and yet maybe sometimes we can treat church like the benches at fitness first we walk from one side of the room to another and the weights are all loaded up and the bibles there and the intentions are huge and the towels around the neck and we look like we're doing a job and there's no change because we're choosing not to engage guys then the project of inner transformation of being more and more like jesus it never really happens by accident or drift i mean that's the revelation i've had this week is that spiritual growth is primarily not a spiritual process it actually requires effort and choice to be like more and more like jesus by engaging in his word and finding out what his life is like and what it means for each and every one of you tonight each and every one of us myself included is that we're we're responsible for our own growth you're responsible for your own growth i'm not responsible for your growth in this place grime's not mike is not the team's not you're responsible this year to become the sort of person that we talked about in week one the sort of person that has roots that goes deep into god the person that's that's steadfast and when we have a bunch of individuals who come together on a sunday like that who are firm and resolved and wise regardless of their age then great things start to happen but each of us is responsible for our own growth this year look another way i could put it some of you may not know i've shared this before but some of you might not know that i'm actually trilingual i try and speak about three different languages yeah dad dad joke number 35 thanks ll eight weeks and that will be ratified yeah look you know i i see ll there i i've always wanted to speak spanish but you know what i've never picked up a spanish book i've never listened to a spanish podcast i've i've never gone to a spanish lecture and yet i still really intend to speak spanish now we might laugh the thought that i'm going to become a fluent spanish speaker just by thinking about it or just by hoping that it might happen but look here's the thing is it possible that we treat our spiritual life exactly the same way ah i i hope i'm going to be more loving this year i i hope i'm going to i i really think i'm going to be less angry this year i i i really think i'm going to serve more this year you're just being trilingual look here's here's the thing what what do we do with the gap you know that that i i know i know this is where i want to be under the master coach but i know my intentions are getting caught up where do we go next with this and here's the thing that that we not only see um this wonderful process playing out uh the the problems of of these intentions that we want but we see here the the counteract counteracts the intentions through the power of disciplines the system counteracts your intentions through the power of disciplines have we got any piano players here tonight just show of hands anyone plays a piano here got yeah one there anyone else yeah we're going to one up there if you could just see michael thomas at the end of the service um our worship team is really needs some help this year i thought that wasn't that wasn't the point i you can tell you the regular moorstiders work because i know you play piano and you didn't put your hand up or mike you might see but here's here's my question to the piano players here could you play bait hoven's fifth symphony if we got you up right now you we've got a big no over there here belt you couldn't do it that's right just stick to the patty chords you know emotional music it's good now i'm much the same i played a bit of keys myself um but if if i if i went to go and play bait home since fifth it would sound like a disaster tonight but i'm sure michael thomas he's getting a lot of mentions tonight i'm sure he could probably pay it play it if you wanted to you could probably sight read it if you wanted to and here's the thing look you know if you're a piano player here tonight is it still possible that you could play bait hoven's fifth of course it is what would be the first thing that happens mike he gets you on the piano and scale by scale by scale you begin to practice until your fingers gets sore you begin to restrict yourself you begin to get coached by the music teacher you move into a system of obedience through discipline and you place scales over and over again until you move into intervals and the intervals sound like the music and you play the first section and the second section and before you know it the excitement and the buzz of this wonderful music and this freedom that you've stepped into is a result of everything that you would ever submitted yourself to now guys that's what disciplines are there an activity that you can engage in now scales that enable you to do what you cannot do by direct effort you can't play bait hoven's fifth now but it's possible if you engage in a discipline discipline look in other words disciplines are the things that help you do the things that you want to do but you can't do right now and this is where it all moves in this system of obedience when we read the demands of Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount blessed are the poor in spirit do not even get angry with your brother or sister forgive freely love your enemies we think their motherhood statements that he's just saying you know because he just got a bit over excited no you know what they are that the various stanzas that the various phrases of bait hoven's fifth the great symphony of life that Jesus Christ has planned for you and he says if you will just begin to play the scales and the training regime that I've played out for you then there will be a moment of great freedom when someone cuts you across in the traffic that you no longer swear Adam but you pray for them there will there will be moments in which someone who has hurt you deeply no longer do you harbor anger and bitterness and resentment but you forgive freely friends what I'm trying to say here guys is that the life of Jesus is like bait hoven's fifth you can get there and if it's true for the worldly life playing the piano don't you think it's true for the spiritual life and if that's a case what are the scales that you could play this week we call them the spiritual disciplines and I won't go into them in great detail things like prayer things like solitude things like silence confession study and meditation service worship is a discipline being here is a discipline now all of these things you want to read books by a dallas willard or a richard foster you go look them up on kurong that they'll guide you through this process but here's the thing unless we begin to engage into the very scales that lead us to the life of Jesus and then we'll still just be tinkering we'll be playing spiritual chopsticks won't we see that's what this series has always been about guys this principle that the more that you become enthralled with the vision of the wonderful life of god the more you want to follow him the more you want to be shaped by him the more you want to live life intentionally you're going to start doing little things with your work week you're going to start switching things around you're going to live differently you're going to give up certain activities that you don't you know that aren't helping you be the sort of person that Jesus wants you to be my call of duty black ops like video games like ps3 all these things that i've learned in recent times but here's the thing look here's other examples if you're not a gamer maybe maybe maybe you'll give up a shopping trip to give up the things items that look you really don't need and you practice a discipline of frugality instead of watching tv you choose to read the good book or a book that's good that would speak to you through the disciplines of study and meditation maybe you intentionally take a pen to the doctors so you can write a letter to someone at church who is really struggling instead of reading magazines about the Kardashians and what their latest outfit or line of perfume might be this year maybe you make an effort to arrive at church early 15 minutes before just in the prayerful hope that a total stranger that you've never met before turns up you give them an axe chapter nine walk on the way that ananias did to saw and engage them in a community that changed their life maybe you chose when you didn't feel like it and it's rainy and the air conditioning is broken to worship with people that you would never ordinarily do life with through the discipline of worship friends all of these you know what these you know what these are you know what these are there is training regime it's your tennis court it's your all of these things are the funny ball machine that's firing stuff at you so you can learn how to get your spiritual stroke back together that's what the great teacher is doing individual growth through prayer and solitude and meditation corporate growth through worship and community and service all of these things are coming together so God can shape you who he has designed you to be through the person of Jesus Christ and why should we because in verse 42 listen what he what he says to the people he was talking to at the time if God were your father you would love me for I came from God and now am here I've not come on my own but he who sent me why is my language not clear to you you know this guy that we're talking about I'm not talking about some cool spiritual teacher I'm not talking about someone who's just the movement of some new fad regime around happiness or how you could best improve your life I'm talking about the man who is the son of God the very God the creator God that we talk about in this universe that if you dare to believe his impossible power that Michael talked about tonight is a very God that formed you in your mother's womb before you ever knew him he sends his own son to come down and to coach us and to show us the way that all of our life could be brought together to live the best way possible here's my question for you tonight it's real simple are you giving Jesus Christ the master coach the same authority in your life as you're giving your gym coach your personal trainer your lecturer your school teacher are you are you giving him the same sort of authority that you would give them christianities a system of obedience that counteracts these intentions through the power of disciplines and so for application points real quick number one which discipline appeals to you pick it and go with it go with it this week if it's silence turn off the TV if it's solitude go for a bush walk if it's worship then come back next week I'd be more than happy to support you in that one here's the other one we we choose to change like I said before let's let's not be a church full of those fitness first type if you know what I'm saying let's not sit on the end of the bench let's not load the weights up and pretend that yeah man i'm really gonna get into this this year got the towel and everything changing in christian life you know what i'm coming to realize is not so much of a spiritual exercise as it is your choice this week the other one our time often shows us what we value most do an inventory of your time where do you spend most of your time how are you spending your time how does god rate in all of that here's the fourth one how are you using your first freedom some of you don't i could have been coming into this place with all sorts of thoughts that are racing through your mind and jesus says seek first the kingdom of god and all these things will be given to you oh how and you and i know that we worry about what we'll eat and what we'll drink and what we'll wear our first freedom is to focus on him and say yes lord i choose to look at the bigger picture that is going on in this universe right now how are you using your first freedom but let me close with this i want you to imagine you're at the doctor's surgery you go to the doctor you say doc i don't i don't feel too good and so she uh she prescribes two pills every day no lollies eat three vegetables and walk one kilometer every day and you walk out with the the prescription in your hand it looks fantastic you turn to the reception and you say she is she's a gem she is fantastic she is just oh i love her she's just she makes me feel so good every time i come here she's just fit and the receptionist says i know she's the best in her field and the next day you you take one pill instead of two you're sneaking a lollie you only eat one vegetable you only walk half kilometer this will do you say and besides look i know myself better than the doctor that's right and a week later you go back you're not feeling too crash hot and the doctor says how are you feeling and not so good you say oh dear the doctor says you know that's really funny because i've been doing this for 30 years and what i usually prescribe helps um sort of you say like what do you mean like what what what about the the pills oh well i only talk one of them well what what about the lollies well i didn't really get rid of them i kept eating them well what about the vegetables i only had half of that tell me the doctor says do you want to get well of course you say of course well did you walk a kilometer each day oh no i only walked half the doctor says don't you trust me don't you have faith in me of course you're the greatest doctor i know you make me feel amazing you're just incredible you're the best in your field i know my receptionist told me what you thought of me if i'm the greatest then then why don't you trust me oh i do trust you i do trust you no you don't or how can you say that doc because you did not do what i told you to do john 821 if you hold on my teaching you're really my disciples then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free that's right